Very high frequency (VHF) is the radio frequency range from 30 MHz to 300 MHz. The VHF band is commonly used for terrestrial navigation systems, VOR (VHF Omni-directional Radio Range) in particular, marine communication, and aircraft communications.
Conventional aircraft radio receivers for VHF communication/navigation (com/nav) have a single channel architecture. One radio hardware “channel” (RF, IF, Baseband) is used per signal received. However, there is a demand for more channels per platform. For example, new datalink modes consume VHF receivers while existing communication and navigation requirements have remained constant. Also, in military applications, communication is becoming less point-to-point and more networked which increases the number of required channels.
Adding additional channels to receivers is expensive in terms of size, weight, power, and cost (SWAP-C). Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a radio that can process a large amount of signals with a single front end, for example, a single receiver simultaneously processing multiple communication and navigation signals.